The three county area that comprises the Central Wisconsin economy has certainly fared better than New England and California. Most of the data in this quarter's report suggest that, this is the case. However, our region remains tied to the rest of the national economy and there has been employment curtailment at several regional employers due to lack of national demand for their products. Further, there is concern that a significant percent of employment gains in the area have come primarily from part time and low paying jobs. These concerns are real and legitimate, but they should not overshadow the overall sound performance and record of our regional economy. Indeed many parts of the country would be very happy with the record established in Central Wisconsin. Given such strengths as a skilled and productive labor force, central location, and available natural resources, the area is well positioned for the next decade. 

     Unemployment rates for our three county area of Central Wisconsin were slightly higher than one year ago (Table 2). The labor force weighted unemployment rate for Central Wisconsin rose from 5.65 to 5.67 percent from June of 1991. For the individual counties, Portage increased from 6.0 to 6.1 percent, and Wood from 6.1 to 6.2 percent. However, Marathon actually experienced a decrease over the course of the year falling from 5.6 down to 5.10 percent. The United States unemployment rate now stands at 7.8 percent up from 6.9 percent of a year ago. 

     Table 3 presents detailed employment data for Central Wisconsin. Even though the data does not distinguish between a high or low paying position, or if the job is full time or part time, the data is encouraging because of the reported growth. Central Wisconsin payrolls have gained 4.8 percent or 6400 positions since last year. Further, the expansion was highly uniform with rates of growth of 6.2, 4.0, and 4.8 percent respectively for Portage, Marathon, and Wood counties. 

     Central Wisconsin employment change by industrial sector shows that 3200 positions were created over the past twelve months, for a gain of 2.6 percent. Manufacturing, services, and government employment is reported to have risen by 1600, 1500 and 800 jobs respectively (Table 4). Only trade and construction experienced any contraction, by 400 and 300 respectively. There are now approximately 126.8 thousand individuals engaged in nonfarm activities in Central Wisconsin. Once again the same caveats mentioned in conjunction with Table 3 apply here with regard to the nature of the new positions. 

     Key industry employment is depicted in Table 5. Lumber and wood products and food processing employment expanded by 500 and 300 jobs from June of 1991. In contrast paper products employment remained unchanged at 10.4 thousand and finance, insurance, and real estate positions declined by a slight 100. Overall these backbone industries of our region gained nearly 700 positions over the year, or an expansion rate of 2.3 percent. 

     Business confidence for the Central Wisconsin region is displayed in Table 6. When asked about recent changes in the national and local economies this panel responded in a mildly optimistic manner. In fact they were much more optimistic than the previous quarter. When this group of business people was asked about the future they tell us that they expect that the national economy, local area, and their particular industry will perform better in the months ahead.